Arizona State pitcher Kenzie Brown (10) celebrates a final strikeout during the NCAA Softball Championship Super Regional against Texas at Red & Charline McCombs Field on Friday, May 22, 2026 in Austin.
Aaron E. Martinez/Austin American-Statesman
Texas Longhorns catcher Reese Atwood (14) talks to pitcher Teagan Kavan (17) during the NCAA Softball Championship Super Regional against Arizona State at Red & Charline McCombs Field on Friday, May 22, 2026 in Austin.
Aaron E. Martinez/Austin American-Statesman
Arizona State outfielder Ashleigh Mejia (24) celebrates a hit for a double during the NCAA Softball Championship Super Regional against Texas at Red & Charline McCombs Field on Friday, May 22, 2026 in Austin.
Aaron E. Martinez/Austin American-Statesman
AUSTIN — Texas has been here before.
But if the Longhorns want to go where they were a year ago when they won the school’s first softball national championship, Mike White knows his team had better figure something out. And quickly.
“Obviously we’re in a familiar position,” the eighth-year Texas head coach said. “But congratulations to Arizona State. They outplayed us in all phases of the game — offense, defense, pitching — and they outhustled us to tell you the truth.”
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He was pretty much at a loss to explain why his nationally second-seeded Longhorns dropped their seventh consecutive first game of a super regional.
White wasn’t sure whether to blame “the softball gods playing tough” or a lack of energy. Maybe it was Texas’ inability to bounce back after an ASU rally or the late start at 8 p.m. Doesn’t really matter.
“You can make all sorts of excuses,” said White, who has won three of those super regionals despite the first-game curse. “Last year Clemson came in and outplayed us. Maybe I should eat something different for breakfast.”
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But he knows he’d better slow down this ASU machine fast because the 19th-ranked Sun Devils ate his team’s lunch Friday night and upset the Longhorns 4-1 behind a complete-game four-hitter by right-hander Kenzie Brown.
More than anything, Brown was the bane of all Texas’ problems because she struck out 10 batters, including the last five batters of the game, and threw a masterpiece to push Texas to within one loss of having its season end.
Texas (45-11) has to beat ASU (45-16) twice to advance to the Women’s College World Series for the third year in a row, but can fall back on some muscle memory from last year’s home super regional, falling in the first game to Clemson before rallying to win the next two. They meet again at 7 p.m. Saturday.
ASU coach Megan Bartlett, a former Longhorn assistant under White who is building the four-time national champion Sun Devils back into a powerhouse after knocking off Texas A&M last week in the College Station Regional, fell in love with Brown at first pitch. She was smitten with this small-town right-hander from a city of about 60 residents but one with so much presence and flair.
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“I met her when she was a 15-year-old kid at a Ball State camp where I was coaching, and I begged her to be a Cardinal,” Bartlett said. “But we lost her to Tulsa. I call her a unicorn all the time. We’re not going to see her likes again for a long time. She’s a competitor, she’s a queen, she’s a plus athlete and she’s got six different ways to miss a barrel. She could have left for a ton of money, and she honestly said, ’This is my place.’ “ The way she’s been pitching, the Sun Devils may be going places. They’re gunning for their first WCWS since 2018 and have destiny in their favor.
Despite going 11-13 and finishing in sixth place in the Big 12 with a lot of injuries, ASU rallied to beat the top three seeds, including Texas Tech, to claim the conference tournament. The Sun Devils then swept all three regional games.
“We’re a top 25 team with 45 wins, but certainly the Big 12 Tournament put a lot of wind in our sails. My goodness, everything caught fire at that point.”
“I guess so,” suggested ASU catcher Samantha Swan, a junior from nearby Georgetown who did the most damage with a pair of hits and three RBI.
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It sure didn’t look so because the Sun Devils manhandled Longhorn pitchers, who collectively just allowed just one run and seven total hits and a single run off Teagan Kavan (24-5) and Co. against three regional opponents last weekend.
But this Sun Devils lineup ravaged the Texas ace Teagan Kavan, who was borderline unhittable in this year’s Austin Regional when she threw back-to-back three hitters. ASU, however, pounded her for eight hits with several more hard-hit outs.
Texas had trailed for just half an inning in the three regional victories but never held the lead Friday night. In what resembled the Longhorns poor month of April when they went 7-7, Brown kept them in knots at the plate with a devastating changeup.
“I think she’s been flying under the radar, said Tiare Ho-Ching, who had two hits. “Kenzie’s been throwing well all year, so I’m glad that she’s getting to showcase that on a bigger stage.”
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“And she also has two changeups,” Swan said. “That makes it hard.”
Freshman Hannah Wells hit a solo home run over the center field wall for Texas in the fourth to knot the game at 1-1. The 15th homer by the rookie marked her second deep fly in four NCAA Tournament games and her sixth in the last 11 games.
But Jaycie Nichols and Ashton Maloney both chased changeups out of the strike zone with a baserunner at third in the second, and Reese Atwood pulverized a ball for a line-drive out to center field to strand baserunners at the corner in the third.
Texas second baseman Leighann Goode made the defensive play of the night with a diving stop of Brooklyn Ulrich’s rocket grounder and a flip to shortstop Viviana Martinez for an inning-ending force-out in the fourth.
But Brown was just too much for the Longhorns all night.
“We had energy there the first couple of innings,” White said. “We didn’t fight back. We didn’t respond very well.”
As usual, unfortunately, at least in first games of super regionals. Which, of course, can mean only one thing.
White’s just got to go waffles or pancakes or Cheerios Saturday morning. Can’t hurt.